Green Kingfisher

Chloroceryle americana

Green Kingfishers are the smallest member of the family Alcedinidae in the New World. Regularly found in south Texas, we sometimes find these birds in southern Arizona. These birds prefer brush-lined clear water streams or ponds to hunt for aquatic prey.

Science recognizes five subspecies of Green Kingfisher. Only C. a. hachisukai and C. a. septentrionalis find their way into the USA.

C. a. hachisukai is resident as far north as southern Arizona and west Texas, and range as far south as south-central Mexico.
C. a. septentrionalis lives from the lower Rio Grande Valley in the north, eastern Mexico and through Central America to northern South America.
C. a. americana ranges from northern South America east of the Andes and as far south as Brazil. We also find them in the Caribbean on the islands of Trinidad and Tobago.
C. a. cabanisii lives on the western slopes of the Andes from Colombia to northern Chile. We find
C. a. mathewsii in southern Bolivia and Brazil, east of the Andes and south to northern Argentina.

My first meeting with the Green Kingfisher was in early 2021 at Sabal Palm Sanctuary in Brownsville (Texas). In August 2022, I returned to the Lower Rio Grande Valley, and I stayed through most of September. It was my good fortune to get invited by friends at the National Butterfly Center in Mission (Texas) to ride their boat up the Rio Grande. We launched from Chimney Park and cruised nine miles upstream to where the border wall ends. We saw all three North American kingfishers on our afternoon jaunt.

6 Photos

Green Kingfisher - Chloroceryle americana — **Green Kingfisher**
*(Chloroceryle americana)*

**Description:**
This bird captured what appears to be a dragonfly larva. Green Kingfishers are the smallest of North American kingfishers. This was my first meeting with them. On my first visit to Texas last spring, the pandemic of 2020 caused the Sabal Palm Sanctuary to close its doors. It took until this Monday in January for me to manage my first visit here.
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**Date Taken:** 2021:01:18 10:36

**Location:**

Sable Palms Sanctuary
Brownsville, Texas
United States
36.09 ft above sea level

**Camera Information:**
NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/11.0, 1/800

**File Name:** GreenKingfisher_D5X2054-SabalPalms

© 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com

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Pin It — **Green Kingfisher**
*(Chloroceryle americana)*

**Description:**
This bird captured what appears to be a dragonfly larva. Green Kingfishers are the smallest of North American kingfishers. This was my first meeting with them. On my first visit to Texas last spring, the pandemic of 2020 caused the Sabal Palm Sanctuary to close its doors. It took until this Monday in January for me to manage my first visit here.
Read More

**Date Taken:** 2021:01:18 10:36

**Location:**

Sable Palms Sanctuary
Brownsville, Texas
United States
36.09 ft above sea level

**Camera Information:**
NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/11.0, 1/800

**File Name:** GreenKingfisher_D5X2054-SabalPalms

© 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com

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Green Kingfisher

Chloroceryle americana

This bird captured what appears to be a dragonfly larva. Green Kingfishers are the smallest of North American kingfishers. This was my first meeting with them. On my first visit to Texas last spring, the pandemic of 2020 caused the Sabal Palm Sanctuary to close its doors. It took until this Monday in January for me to manage my first visit here.

Green Kingfisher

Chloroceryle americana

Green Kingfisher

Chloroceryle americana

Green Kingfishers are the smallest of North American kingfishers. This was my first meeting with them. On my first visit to Texas last spring, the pandemic of 2020 caused the Sabal Palm Sanctuary to close its doors. It took until this Monday in January for me to manage my first visit here.

Green Kingfisher

Chloroceryle americana

Green Kingfisher

Chloroceryle americana

Green Kingfishers are the smallest of the trio of kingfisher species found in south Texas. During our late afternoon boating expedition on the Rio Grande, we met all three members of the kingfisher clan.